


Project H

by MagnaVictoria (Meaninglessness)



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Insanity, M/M, Reincarnated Harry, Reincarnation, Science Experiments, Sibling Incest, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-14 23:35:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9210290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meaninglessness/pseuds/MagnaVictoria
Summary: "Twins? Are you sure? Last time the ultrasound only showed one embryo..." "Positive. It's coming out of her. How can we not be sure?" "Hmm... This changes things... Lucrecia actually had twins. It matters not, it just gives me a new specimen for Project JENOVA. That one, the unnamed one, shall be known as... Harriel. Sephiroth and Harriel, Projects S and H."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another FFN work!

They had destroyed everything.

Them, the muggles, had destroyed human life as it was on Earth. Well, technically, his own race had played quite the part in it, too, but it was mainly muggle weaponry that had destroyed most of life. They had tried to revive it, but there was too little left.

It had started in 2022 when the new British Muggle Prime Minister elected was Edgar Selwyn, a squib from the dark pure blood family. He was a cheerful man, really, despite the way he had been treated by his family, and thought that non-magical people and magical people should know about each other and live together. That was probably why no one really thought him the instigator, but he _was_. He had planned everything to a tee.

Edgar took it upon himself to announce the existence of wizards and witches to the muggles.

For a while, it was fine, the two were actually able to live peacefully, in harmony, and many magical and non-magical alike were surprised by this. Except for the occasional extremists attacking each race, the two societies were able to function quite perfectly, side by side. The Societies were granted independence along with other magical creature societies such as werewolves and vampires, which had improved in both terms of creature-human relations and quality of life in general.

The muggle community looked for ways to perform magic by themselves and, by 2028, had found odd crystals that glowed and could enable them to perform a wide range of simple spells. Later, the Department of a Mysteries found out that everyone had a magical core and that wizards were just more in tune with it and had more magic. The muggle scientists called magic 'life force' and the crystals 'Materia' and found out that Materia drew the Life Force from the core, enabling those with less in tune magic to perform it.

In 2030, scientists that were collaborating with Unspeakables from all around the world discovered the blood and wil of the Planet, the lifestream and theories it's sentience and death. They called the sentience and will of the Planet Gaia. It was announced that all other theories about life, death and creation were untrue due to this. This caused uproar from the religious for two years before finally they came up with the Theory of Belief: everything that is believed in to exist exists in some form within the universe created by the power of belief and the mind in large quantities. Ergo, if many people believe in one thing, then that thing exists. This theory appeased the believers enough for them to calm down.

The year 2036 marked the start of World War Three. The muggle governments had graciously offered the magical community the option to stay out of the war. Most communities took it and everyone gave credit of good relations to Edgar Selwyn.

However, due to the weapons used and the now lack of distance between the two communities, major casualties appeared for both communities.

By 2037, the magical population were calling for the blood of their muggle counterparts, the blame fully placed on them. The muggles, on the other hand, never really noticed the going ones in the magical community. Year 2038 was when wild, non-intelligent magical creatures began attempting to strike down muggle airplanes whenever one came in sight. Year 2039 was the year other magical beings demanded revenge for their own casualties caused by muggle warfare. Only a month later, Walter Bell, Minister of Magic, resigned.

Elections were held immediately and one political party in particular had been gaining much popularity. The one that called for segregation, complete separation from the muggle community and even persecution and destruction of muggles to keep themselves safe.

Six months after the previous minister's resignation, Valeria Winterhall, the first ever female Minister of Magic, was elected.

Then came Operation Secrecy, the name given to the operation that would reinstate the Statute of Secrecy. It took little persuasion to have the other magical communities all over the world to join in.

In 2040, the Third of January, James Sirius Potter, head of the Aurors, led an army of wizards, witches, and all sorts of magical creatures from all around the world to the Battle of Denmark and completely annihilated the muggle navy, air force and army fighting there, against his father's wishes. It was for revenge, revenge for his brother, sister and mother when they were killed in the accidental bombing of Diagon Alley. They were taken down easily mainly due to surprise. The event was then known as The Slaughter of Denmark by muggles and The Victory at Denmark by the magical community.

In the years after that, World War Three had gained a new name as muggles made alliances with each other and magicals armed themselves for war. It was called The Race Purge. Both sides hit as hard as they got and casualties were going up at an incredible rate.

In 2041, one Harry James Potter returned for the first time to the surface of the world since his family's death looking not a day older than when he 'disappeared'. The first thing he did, was go around the world and gather all the people who were against the war, creating an organization called CETRA. No one knew what it stood for except the man himself, but it was a group dedicated to saving as many innocents as possible, people completely against the discrimination and war between the two communities. It was simply amazing how little people joined, CETRA being only about twenty thousand people strong.

When nuclear warfare began in 2042, James Sirius Potter defected from the magical army and joined CETRA, having heard of the newest plans of the magical army. They were going to summon something recently discovered called WEAPON, something the Planet used to protect itself, by using a being from space they named The Calamity and manipulate it to infect the muggles and their life force, forcing WEAPON to target them. They were going to deploy The Calamity into civilian cities and hope it infected muggles, muggle _children_. They were going to attempt to destroy the world.

While this went on for around a year, CETRA kept 'recruiting' so to speak. More and more people joined, but, at the same time, the rest of the world began to view CETRA as an enemy. Many of the recruiters, mainly magical people due to their abilities, were killed.

The Race Purge ended at the morning of the year 2044 due to the fact that there just wasn't much of anything anymore and the war was impossible to continue. WEAPON went back to its slumber, sealed away by Harry James Potter himself, the most powerful wizard alive then and one the only few from Britain that survived.

Then, CETRA rejoined the surface world, everyone there coming out of hiding. Life soon returned to a semi-normal state for the survivors, who numbered around ten million. They tried to bring the Planet back to life and create new life. They built the City of Ancients over what was left of Hogwarts as the symbol of the beginning of a new era and Harry James Potter was given the name Harriel by the muggle pope there, claiming that he was an angel sent down to guide them to salvation.

It was then that the Great Rebirth happened. The Planet shifted and breathed new life into itself, healing and allowing a new beginning for everyone. The lifestream came nearer and the Planet became stronger as it surged to the surface, free of pollution and it's other burdens. Pools of natural lifestream, aka Mako, popped up as if to remind the people that they were being watched over. There, a new group of people were born.

Light shone upon Harry, and the Planet... It spoke. It spoke to the people, speaking of peace, life and hope. And it gave them a way to contact it.

And that was how the Cetra came to be. The very first few of CETRA gained the miraculous ability to speak to the Planet, a gift for leading the world to peace.

The people renewed the year, since it was a new start, making it εуλ 0000 instead of 2078 C. E..

However, only some of the surviving magical population and the Cetra stayed in the city; the muggles and the few other magicals went away to find their own lives to live.

For a while, it was peaceful, and Harry was content to watch over his people and the city. He could even just forget the fact that he wasn't aging, live with the fact that none of his friends and family except James had survived.

However, everyone had forgotten something.

The Calamity was still there.

It attacked the City of the Ancients and killed or scattered the Cetra. By the time Harry managed to seal it away, it was too late. Almost everyone was dead. If they weren't dead, then Harry had no idea where they went. He had nothing left to live for. So, after burying the body of his son, Harry made a decision.

He would commit suicide.

Now, since he had realized that he could age, he had tried several times to kill himself, none of which worked. The Lifestream kept rejecting him. Therefore, he would have to force the Lifestream to accept him.

On December third, εуλ 0010, Harry James Potter, aka Harriel, jumped into a Mako spring and was never seen again.

* * *

_Harry James Potter..._

_My Champion, My Weapon, My Child..._

_I need you..._

_Help him..._

_Who has been sent back..._

_Time rewinds..._

_Help my new Savior..._

_Given a new chance..._

_He cannot win without you..._

_This time you will be there..._

_It cannot fail..._

_Help my Children..._

_Destroy the Calamity!_

* * *

**εуλ 1980**

_Light? No, that can't be. I should be dead. I_ was _dead. Definitely dead. I should have returned to the lifestream... Or something._

_..._

_Or something, probably. My life has never, will never be that easy. The fact that I heard Her talking is a testament to the fact that I'm not dead. Then... Where am I?_

_..._

_I can hear... Voices. I feel... Really weird..._

"Twins? Are you sure? Last time the ultrasound only showed one embryo..." A masculine voice asked, sounding slightly distraught.

"Positive. It's coming out of her. How can we not be sure?" An annoyed female voice replied. He then felt himself being lifted gently before being suddenly snatched away. He tried to make a sound of protest and distress, but all that came from his mouth was gurgling and wailing.

_Well, I think I have an idea of what's going on now..._

"Hmm... This changes things... Lucrecia actually had twins. It matters not, it just gives me a new specimen for Project JENOVA. That one, the unnamed one, shall be known as... Harriel. Sephiroth and Harriel, Projects S and H." Another male voice spoke.

_Oh Merlin. What the hell?_

* * *

**εуλ 1989**

_You have been given another chance..._

_You must save me..._

_The world was burning, going up in flames and he was running, running..._

_There was silver and green and yellow and orange all around him. Black death creeping over the ground, white illness over people's faces._

_"I will... Never be a memory."_

_Red blood seeping through the fabric, staining him red, too. Tainting and corrupting his soul. Screams of terror sounded throughout the village._

_You are my Chosen..._

_You must destroy the Calamity!_

_A giant meteor in the sky, ripping through the atmosphere in a blaze of red and orange and yellow. Rotting flesh and cold skin. The stench of death._

_You must remember..._

_You must not waste this chance..._

_The earth breaking apart, explosions blowing apart buildings. Dismembered bodies and people lying on the ground._

_You must stop it..._

_You must not let it happen..._

_"CLOUD!"_

In the small town of Nibelheim, a young blonde boy bolted up on bed, a silent scream on his lips. His eyes glowed faintly in the darkness as he looked at his surroundings, finding them surprisingly bright. A sob escaped him as he buried his head in his hands and curled in on himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**εуλ 1984 - Shinra Mansion, Nibelheim**

"Harriel?" A small boy with shoulder length silver hair and cat-like green eyes called softly as he walked into his twin brother's room, looking around at the white walls and obsessively neat space. Then, he froze as cold metal met his throat. He restrained a gasp as he fought to stay still and not instinctively strike back.

The dagger was then removed from where it had rested. "Oh, it's just you, Seph. What have I said about calling me Harry?" Sephiroth looked up into his twin's face at the white bandages that were where bright green eyes should be. Silver locks framed the younger boy's face in a messy way. They were shorter than Sephiroth's own, but only because they were messier.

"You said I should always call you Harry and not Harriel because it's shorter and you like it better," Sephiroth promptly answered.

There was a slight pause before Harry chuckled softly. "I didn't mean for you to answer me literally, Seph. But, yeah, that's what I said," the younger boy smiled at Sephiroth warmly. "Here's another reason, since you seem to be unsatisfied with the two. Giving each other nicknames can show our fondness and love for each other as brothers."

Sephiroth nodded thoughtfully. That made sense, in an odd kind of way. "Alright."

"So..." Harry drawled, walking over to the immaculately neat bed and sitting on it, rumpling the sheets, before gesturing for Sephiroth to join him. Sephiroth quickly obeyed, staring at the bandages that obscured his smaller twin's eyes. "What did ya want to talk about?"

Sephiroth licked his lips in an uncharacteristic gesture of nervousness. "Today, when I was going through my tests in the lab," Sephiroth saw Harry tense, "I-I asked about... Our parents." Harry tensed further.

"What did... Hojo say?" Sephiroth flinched as Harry snarled out the name. Sephiroth understood anger very well, despite not understanding other emotions that well, and was unsure of why Harry was always so angry about Hojo. "What lies did he tell you this time?"

"He... He didn't mention our father, but he said that our mother is Jenova, a woman that died in childbirth..." Sephiroth trailed off sadly, eyes downcast. There was silence for a while before an arm settled around Sephiroth's shoulders.

"He's lying," Harry said with certainty. Sephiroth looked at his smaller twin before nodding, choosing to believe the other. Despite the fact that Sephiroth was technically the older twin, he really looked up to and admired his brother. His brother was just so knowledgable and mature that he couldn't help but believe everything that the other said. It was as if Harry was the older one and Sephiroth was the younger. It was a serious case of hero worship, really.

However, Sephiroth knew that Harry wasn't invincible and that the other was, in fact, weaker than him. At least, Harry was weaker physically.

Abruptly, Harry began coughing and Sephiroth, startled from his thoughts, quickly held onto his twin, worried and awkwardly patting his back. "I'm fine..." Harry croaked before being cut off by coughing again. Sephiroth hovered awkwardly, wanting to help but not knowing how to do so. He had become more and more concerned during the days after Harry's last 'meeting' with Hojo.

There had been some sort of complications with it which had caused Harry to temporarily loose his sight and quick reflexes. He would make a full recovery though, but he had been excused from training.

There was something else plaguing Sephiroth's mind though... Something he wanted desprately to ask Harriel about. "Harry...?"

"Yeah, Seph?"

Sephiroth was silent for a moment longer, finding himself fidgeting a little. Harry waited for him to speak, silent and comforting. "Am... Am I a freak?" He blurted out. He knew that the way he was acting was very unlike him, but he couldn't help it. Harry was the only person Sephiroth really felt anything for. Usually, he just felt indifference for people, but Harry was different in a way Sephiroth couldn't describe. Harry was... Precious to him.

He felt Harry stiffen next to him and he tensed as well, heart beating in fear of the other's judgment. He had heard the scientists and assistants whisper about him, about how unnatural he was. Occasionally, he would garner looks of pity or fear. Mainly though, the people tended to look at him as if he were a thing. He could tell, because their gazes were so different from Harry's. "You aren't a freak. And anyone who thinks you're abnormal is a real freak," his brother reassured him, accepting him.

Sephiroth smiled in relief. Now, he just hoped his brother would recover. Soon.

* * *

**εуλ 0018 - Shinra Tower, Ruins of Midgar, Flashback**

_"Midgar? Shinra?" The young, female cub asked, tilting her head up to look at her father._

_"Yes," Nanaki replied, smiling down at his daughter. "This is Midgar, the Shinra building. Or, at least, what is left of it."_

_A second cub looked around, sniffing the air slightly. "Why are we here this time and not at Edge? Usually, you make sure we stay on the other side of Edge, dad. And that's when we come here, if we come here."_

_"Vincent wanted to show us something he found. Cloud and the others are coming as well," Nanaki explained to his son, looking around for a sign of the dark gunman._

_"Really?" The two cubs' faces lit up in delight._

_Nanaki gave a small chuckle. "Why is it that you two sulk all the time when meeting up with Vincent but like Cloud so much?"_

_"Vincent is too... Moody..."_

_"Melodramatic..."_

_"Brooding..."_

_"Silent..."_

_"Not to mention boring..."_

_"So very not..._

_"Entertaining."_

_Nanaki chuckled again, smiling down at his two cubs. Then he spotted a few figures making their way over to him carefully. "And here they come..."_

_"Cloud!" The two cubs shouted simultaneously, bounding over to the approaching figures and bowling over the blonde that headed the group._

_"Oof! Get off, you two. You're heavy!" Cloud complained, looking at the two small cubs on his chest, his small, rare smile ruining the effect of his annoyed glare._

_"I do believe that Cloud needs to breathe," Tifa added._

_"Nuh-uh! We aren't getting off!"_

_"We've finally caught you and we're not letting go!"_

_"There's enough time to play later," a voice cut through the joyous laughter coming from the group. Nanaki turned and there was Vincent in all his dark glory, looking even more somber than usual._

_Cid raised an eyebrow. "What's with the frown, Vincent. You look more moody than usual," he commented, a hint of a joke in his words._

_"Yeah, you should really be happier!" Yuffie chirped._

_"This isn't the time!" The gunman snapped, startling everyone into silence with his agitation. The break in his calm mood was enough for the light atmosphere to dissolve. The cubs got off from Cloud and the swordsman stood up, his previous smile gone as if it had never been there._

_"What happened, Vincent?" Cloud asked, voice serious._

_The gunman's semblance of cool came back together almost immediately, although this uncharacteristic shifting betrayed him. "Have... Any of you had trouble with your materia recently?"_

_Most of the group looked confused or slightly worried at that._

_"Well, I can swear that mine were duller when I was polishing them," Yuffie finally spoke up. There was a scoff from Cid._

_"I haven't had any trouble recently, unless you count Yuffie stealing my materia and switching them with weaker ones," Cloud said._

_"Hey! I have done no such thing!" The ninja protested, pouting, "Why do you people always blame meeee for taking your materia!?"_

_"Because that's what you always do?" Barrett suggested, being met with sounds of agreement from the other members of the group. Yuffie just pouted further._

_"Look," Vincent once again cut into the friendly banter, stretching out his hand, palm facing upwards. The group gathered around to look, seeing several pieces of materia sitting there. Although... They were a bit strange..._

_Yuffie was, of course, the one to snatch one from the small pile. She frowned, examining the materia. Then, her eyes widened. "It's... Dead."_

_The other members of the group took a closer look, surprised._

_The little crystals were, indeed, 'dead'. They were dull, lifeless, lacking the distinct glow they should have had._

_"They are..." Tifa agreed, frowning._

_And, Cloud realized, that this moment was probably the beginning of everything._

* * *

**εуλ 1987 - Near Midgar, Traveling towards Midgar**

To be honest, he was surprised. Surprised at the uncanny similarities between the previous muggle world and the current world.

Then again, it would be likely that things would follow the same pattern as before. Not a lot of things were truly lost from the world before. Plus, necessity was the mother of invention and, humans being humans, the people would still need, or want, the same things as before. Let the development of human technology never be underestimated.

A better form of communication? Bam, a cell phone. More entertainment? There you go, a television. Faster transport? Wah la, a car.

Although, what really surprised him was the fact that so many literary works and other arts survived. Shakespeare for one.

Except, he thought to himself as he looked down at the book he was reading, some of _Romeo and Juliet_ appeared to have been lost or seriously misinterpreted.

The ending was happy in his book. Even though the entire prologue had been salvaged.

 _What optimists... "Do with their death bury their parents' strife"? Yeah, what a comedy,_ Harry snarked mentally. Then, he paused to wonder if Snape really had that much of an effect on him. He could see Sephiroth's brows furrow in confusion next to him. _  
_

From what Harry had gathered from his definitely-way-too-advanced classes, he could sum up that the surviving Asians had banded together despite the tension between the two Koreas, and China and Japan. The Westerners, on the other hand, had spread out, going wherever they felt most comfortable. Unfortunately, while he could see traces of African and African-American culture in the current world, actual people with that kind of heritage and legacy was rare and they had mainly hidden away from the rest of the world. This meant that he didn't know if those people still existed as a race. It was most likely that the few survivors had been assimilated. Harry blamed it on the fact that while people were open minded before The Race Purge, there just wasn't enough interest (due to previous racial prejudice) in the study of their culture for them to be understood. Harry mourned for that loss. After all, humans had originated from that area and their magic was wildly different from the controlled forms in Asia and the West and their culture was just as important as any other. Only Egyptian culture really survived, thanks to its pyramids.

The common language was a language very similar to English, but not exactly like it. Traces of Latin (where the hell did that come from?) and Proto-Germanic (obviously, since English was a Germanic language) had been mixed in. The previously extinct East Germanic language had also made a reappearance, several words coming from that subsection. Not so much the Romance languages (except for Latin, of course), which Harry found odd, considering the influence Rome had on the world. The accent, however, often bordered on Australian, something else Harry found weird. He would have expected the accent to be American since America had so much influence back then.

Variants of other languages were spoken, too, but only in the more isolated parts of the world, including the North, which spoke a mixture of the Romance languages and Russian, but with an American (Canadian?) accent. The first time hearing that had creeped Harry out, because it was just so different from what he was used to. The accent and the words didn't match, at all. Instead of being all flowing, it sounded choppy and that was weird for Harry, though other people weren't bothered with it.

Wutai was, by far, the place that interested Harry the most. Their written language was Chinese, definitely. It was almost exactly the same, if not for a few small changes. Harry was glad that the spoken language was, however, Japanese with some Korean and Cantonese thrown in. Chinese just had way too many dialects for Harry to wish to learn to speak it. The culture was also a mix of Japanese and Chinese and, also, Indian. Much of the food was either Indian or Chinese. Wutai apparently had too much land for seafood to really be a big part of its cuisine. Harry was sad that there wasn't much Korean and other, smaller Asian nations' culture influencing Wutai. It was understandable though, the smaller nations experiencing much the same as the Africans and Korea having more casualties due to being the first to experience nuclear warfare thanks to the tension between the North and South. The reason so much of Japan and China survived so much was Japan's successful neutral status in the beginnings of the Third World War even when it became The Race Purge. They had enough nuclear weaponry to be a serious threat, so other countries were happy with them being neutral. The relations between their magicals and muggles had always been good, too. The only thing he was really confused about were the ninjas.

Much of the various religions of the world survived, though he wasn't too surprised at that. Everyone needed something like God to keep them going back then, after all.

"Harry!" Harry's mind snapped back to the present at the shout. "Look at that!" And there was Sephiroth, looking for all the world like the excited seven year old he should be. Harry smiled and nodded, watching the steadily growing blood of grey that was Midgar approaching from the distance.

He was quite proud of the progress he had made on Sephiroth, making sure that Sephiroth could at least have some of the childhood that Harry himself was denied. Sephiroth was still very much emotionally stinted, but he was able to drop his cold persona around Harry and feel. The scientists had all treated him as a lab rat and Harry was the only one Sephiroth could learn to be human from. Hojo had failed in his mission to turn Sephiroth into an emotionless weapon and that made Harry smug.

But, today... Harry's smugness faded to be replaced by nervousness... Today, they were joining the SOLDIER program as cadets. The Professor had finally deemed them good enough to test out in the real world. There was a good side to this though. This way, they could actually have some semblance of freedom.

There were a lot of things he had to do, a lot of things that Gaia was whispering into his mind, but they could wait for later. Even Gaia seemed to approve of his current actions.

"That's Midgar, Seph. That's our new home."

* * *

**εуλ 1995 - Nibelheim**

It was his ninth birthday.

And he couldn't believe it, but he was happy.

Apart from his mother and Tifa, Cloud thought that nothing else in his home village would really bring him any sense of happiness. The horrors he had endured in the village was enough to make him avoid it before... All this.

It had been more than a surprise when he had woken up seven years ago to find himself still alive. It was more than a surprise when had realized he must have gotten another chance, somehow, to change the past.

Gaia had, somehow, sent him back.

At first, he had been highly confused at both his feelings and memories. They had been a jumbled up mess that didn't make sense. Then, he had been depressed at realizing that he had no power to change anything in his current state. Well, that was until three years ago when he started receiving nightmares.

He also started receiving mako. As in, he just woke up with mako in his bloodstream.

While he was grateful for this boost in power, he still mourned for the loss of his beloved sword, First Tsurugi, and his bike, Fenrir.

For the past three years, he had been planning and training. He knew that the war Shinra was waging with Wutai was raging on and that Sephiroth would soon come into public view. He planned to follow the news closely this time around. If there was one thing good about his mother collecting those weird gossip magazines that spewed Shinra propaganda was the fact that he could follow current events. He was still wondering if he should join SOLDIER or not, but decided that joining SOLDIER would, most likely, help him in the long run, even if it meant that he would be limiting his options for a while. He would have more access to Sephiroth while there.

Meanwhile, he kept a low and unassuming profile in Nibelhiem, making sure to not appear to prodigious, but very capable and independent.

He was, currently, still wondering what to do with Vincent and Jenova though, the two things that he could take care of while in Nibelheim. He knew that without good reason, Vincent would never join him. Especially while Sephiroth was being hidden from public eye. Jenova, on the other hand, he was sure he had sufficient power to take care of her, but he wasn't even sure if she was in Nibelheim's reactor right now.

The reason for his joy, however, was the fact that he had managed to stop Tifa from her attempt at crossing the Nibel mountains. It made his life much easier and, unlike in his last childhood, he wasn't bullied, at all. He wasn't too sure how he had convinced her, but he had done it in a way that she was still willing to be friends with him. Amazing, considering the fact that his sweet talking and negotiating skills were nearer to the bottom of the spectrum.

"Mom, I'm home," Cloud called out after making sure there was no blood or monster gore on him.

"Cloud," his mother greeted as she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Their house was rather simple and small, but cozy. The front door opened into the living room/dinning room. There was a door that led to the kitchen and a small toilet. The stairs were on the other side of the room with two small bedrooms, one for him and one for his mother, upstairs. They still had a stove, as they couldn't afford air conditioning.

Cloud gave his mother a small smile, an action that was becoming more and more familiar the more time he spent in this life. Then he realized that she was holding something in her hands, looking down at it once in a while. It was a magazine.

"What're you reading, mom?" Cloud asked curiously, taking off his boots and exchanging them with slippers.

"Oh, this? Something new has come out about SOLDIER's newest elite."

"Really? Let me see." Cloud walked over to his mother and his mother handed him the magazine. At the flash of silver hair, Cloud felt a rush of anticipation and quickly looked over the picture before stopping and just staring.

This could not be happening.

On the page of the perfectly innocent magazine were two epicly posing men with silver hair. One with long, silver hair, holding a ridiculously long sword. The other had short hair that would have looked like a bird's nest if it were not silver in color. In his hands, he held a large, scythe like object, looking for all the world like the angel of death. Two pairs of glowing green eyes stared out from the page Along with the words in big, bold letters:

_**Shinra's Newest Elite: The Silver Angels, Sephiroth and Harriel** _

Cloud only had one thought in his mind.

_Who the fuck is Harriel?_


	3. Chapter 3

**[u] - εуλ 1990 - SOLDIER Training Facility, Shinra Tower, Midgar**

"Sephy!" The grinning silver haired boy jogged towards his twin and glomped him, ignoring the sharp and pointy katana that the taller boy had in his hands.

Sephiroth barely twitched, used to his brother's antics, but his brow furrowed in annoyance. "Don't call me that."

Harry's face suddenly appeared right in front of his. Sephiroth twitched, but otherwise didn't react. "Why not?"

"It sounds weird," Sephiroth stated, "Weird and stupid. You can call me Seph, but if you call me Sephy again, I'll gut you."

Harry laughed, but stepped back all the same. "You wouldn't dare... Would you?" He narrowed his eyes in mock suspicion.

Sephiroth lowered his sword and turned laughing eyes towards his brother. "Of course not, dear brother of mine."

Harry gave an exaggerated sigh if relief. "I'm glad to know that all those years on working on brotherly love weren't wasted, Seph."

The two ten year olds had managed to become Second Class SOLDIERs in the three years they were at Shinra. Unfortunately, Hojo, being the man he is, wouldn't allow them to show their true potential. He wanted them to wait until they were on the real battlefield. This caused quite a few problems because, while the SOLDIER firsts were willing to accept without question that the two were powerful enough to be where they should be, many of the SOLDIER Seconds and Thirds weren't.

They didn't like how the two children were at the same or higher rank than them. They didn't like how the two kept their skills and secrets away from prying eyes. They didn't like how the two kept their distance from the rest of them, polite but aloof, as if they thought themselves superior. Or, at least, Sephiroth did that. Harriel, on the other hand, was all grins and maturity (but occasionally immaturity when he thinks it's a good time to have some mischief), as if he were an elder to be respected.

Of course, neither Harry nor Sephiroth were blind to this.

Sephiroth seethed inwardly as he heard another quiet insult spat at his brother, but Harry's calming touch on his shoulder stops him from reacting. As he turned to look at his twin, he was met by a mischievous grin.

"Let's give them a show, Seph," Harry suggested.

"But, the Professor said-"

"Aw, who cares about the Professor. We are our own people, this is our lives. Plus, you're getting pretty sick of this, aren't you? It'd be fun to go all out for once, no?"

A smile curled on Sephiroth's lips and he nodded in agreement.

 _Oh yes, point to Team CETRA! Take_ that _, creepy Hojo Mojo!_ Harry mentally cheered.

And it was on that day that the rest of SOLDIER knew not to mess with the two.

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1995 - Nibelhiem**

Cloud did not know what to do at all. This Harriel was a completely new variable in the grand scheme of things. A variable that could shatter all his plans. **  
**

If the magazine was to be believed, Sephiroth and Harriel were fraternal twins. That meant that they would both share Jenova cells. Would Harriel be like what Sephiroth was in his past life? Would he have to deal with two One-Winged Angels? Or would this Harriel change Sephiroth for the better?

For the next few days, Cloud religiously studied this Harriel.

He didn't find out much, as Harriel apparently valued his privacy. However, what he could find out didn't really help or worsen his panic.

He found out that Harriel was a weapon collector. Where Sephiroth had the strength, speed and dexterity and only used one weapon, Masamune, Harriel had skill. His favorite weapon was a staff called Olivander, actually, something that surprised Cloud. Although, the scythe, Peverell, and the intricately self-made twin double-edged swords, Gred and Forge, were not far behind. Somehow, Cloud had the impression that they were meant to be the names of people, though very weird names.

Cloud also read about how Harriel was a Materia genius. He could do things that no one else could do with Materia, something that also made up for his lack of raw potential in physical combat.

Cloud had only made one conclusion.

If he were to go up against the twins, he'd loose for sure.

Now that his plans were almost completely in shambles, he decided that it would be best to improvise instead. While Cloud was by no means stupid, he wasn't a genius either. Improvisation would be a better idea.

He would, somehow, have to attempt to save Sephiroth and hope that this Harriel didn't cause him any problems either. If it came to it, he would have to eliminate the both of them. However, he hoped that it wouldn't.

Because if it did, his chances of success was slim to none.

Securing the pink ribbon around his left arm carefully, in memory of the Aeris in his past life, he covered his arm with his sleeve and set out to train.

Ever since he had began receiving mako, he had been training to ensure that he could fight and move as if he were a relatively un-enhanced person even when he let his fighting instincts take over. After all, if he weren't SOLDIER, how could he possibly have mako in his system? And if he didn't have mako in his system, how could he possibly be as strong, fast or skilled as a SOLDIER?

Plus, even though he had mako in his system, it didn't seem as potent as the mako received in the labs.

He needed to train. He had to prepare.

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1992 - The Labs, Shinra Tower, Midgar**

Sephiroth suppressed a shiver as he walked through the door to the cold, white rooms of the labratories. Next to him, Harriel walked with a blank face past the lab assistants and scientists. His mask wasn't quite as complete as Sephiroth's emotionless one, unable to hide the distaste and anger that simmered within the emerald orbs. **  
**

Sephiroth hated the labs. He used to fear them, too, until he realized that they couldn't control him. He had Harriel to thank for that. The freedom loving, independent boy had always done something to rebel against Hojo, dragging Sephiroth with him.

It had started with the refusal to take proper care of his hair. Hojo had wanted it immaculate, Harry had wanted it a mess and threw a tantrum every time he was approached with any hairdresser-related object by someone he didn't trust, be it shampoo or scissors. Sephiroth had followed with growing his hair out and taking exception care of it. He too had made a fuss whenever approached with anything hairdresser-related.

And that was only the start.

Sephiroth wasn't someone who would call himself mischievous, but under the urging of Harriel, he had become a master prankster. The best one they had pulled yet had involved a couple of Department heads, a meeting and a few loose screws. Simple but hilarious and no one knew it was them. It was very amusing to watch the recorded tape.

His thoughts were cut off as they came to a halt.

"Ah... My boys, finally here, I see," the, as Harry termed, Greasy Git greeted them with a sneer. Sephiroth had been confused at why Harry called him a Greasy Git and even more so when Harry stated that he felt sorry for someone called 'Snape' straight afterwards. Sephiroth just shook it off as one of the many quirks Harriel had. "I want you on your best behavior today."

Sephiroth and Harriel glanced at each other, and Sephiroth could see the apprehension in his brother's gaze.

"Why?" Harriel asked, crossing his arms. "What big thing is happening now?"

Hojo made a displeased sound, turning away from the two to look at the computer screen he was sitting in front of. "I thought you would know already," his lips curled into a satisfied smirk, "Shinra is going to war with Wutai. It's time for the two of you to show those simple-minded fools your power."

* * *

**[v] - εуλ 0019 - Seventh Heaven, Edge, Flashback**

_"Tifa!"_ _Cloud rushed forwards to catch his friend as she collapsed. "No... Not you, too..."_

_The brunette's eyes fluttered, opening slowly. "Cloud? I feel... Weak... Not well... What's going on? What do you mean by... Not me, too...?"_

_"Just," Cloud licked his dry lips, brows furrowed with worry, "Just rest, okay?"_

_Tifa's eyes were already closing._

_"Shit, it's spreading..." Cid muttered, walking inside. "I never thought that Tifa would catch this... Whatever it is, too."_

_"The Wave. That's what everyone is calling it, Cid," Cloud said, picking up Tifa and carrying her to her bedroom. "I don't get it. It's nothing like Geostigma. It's... It's odd."_

_Cloud had been on one of his deliveries as usual. What wasn't as usual though, was the fear that plagued the places he had gone to. What wasn't usual, was the sudden increase of demand for medical items._

_It had been weird, so he had called Cid to help him investigate._

_He needn't have gone._

_Soon enough, he had heard of it all. He was the savior of the world, after all._

_The whisper of the weird disease that had been spreading, people who were absolutely fine one moment and growing ever weaker the next. The dimming and 'dying' of Materia all across the world. They were going out like stars do when the daylight breaks through. The mild famine that had broken out was something that affected everyone. The plants had wilted despite the rain that poured from the heavens as if some god up there were weeping. The fear that this might be something like Geostigma, something that has happened before, but different enough for the hope on Cloud's shoulders to become a dead weight._

_Then, the panic. The panic had come when people just started dying. The ones already weakened by this whatever it was had just... Died. Burst into lifestream and disappeared._

_It was wave after wave. The children and elderly, being the most affected, had gone first with the first 'wave' of weakness, of death. Apparently, these waves targeted the weak first._

_He had never thought that Tifa would get the wave. Not so fast._

_People were looking to him and Vincent for guidance, for salvation, but they were both at a loss._

_This wasn't an enemy they could fight, and no matter how much they searched and investigated, they couldn't find a source._

_The only thing they had found out was that it was coming from the North, the waves spreading like a shockwave, unstoppable, incredible, horribly destructive._

_Cloud prayed for an answer. Everyday he went to the church._

_Aeris would not hear him out._

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1994** **\- Sephiroth and Harriel's Rooms, Shinra Tower, Midgar**

"Hey, Harry, did you hear about the two that are going to be placed in our unit?"

Harry blinked, surprised, looking up from the pranking plans he had drawn on paper. "Our unit?" Sephiroth nodded, his eyes still trained on the book he was reading. "As in our special, let's-no-one-new-in-because-it's-too-special unit?"

"Well, apparently, these two are special like we are."

"More lab victims...?" Harry muttered under his breath quietly, frowning, though Sephiroth heard anyways and shrugged in response.

"They want us to train together. That's what the General said, anyways," Sephiroth added. "It's to see their potential."

"Well," Harry said, returning to his plans, "I hope we get along."

* * *

**SOLDIER Training Facilities, Shinra Tower, Midgar**

"They seem to be getting along..." Harry muttered, sighing at the destruction wrecked in the Training Facility for SOLDIER Firsts. He looked towards the tall, dark haired teen beside him who also seemed to be expressing exasperation. When the other looked back at him, he gave a sweeping bow. "Harriel, SOLDIER First Class, at your service. Though you probably already know that."

The other chuckled, amused. "Angeal Hewley, a pleasure to meet you. And, indeed, I've read about you. Although they make you and your brother seem much more mature in the magazines."

"Well," Harry drawled, smirking, "I guess that means they didn't publish an article about the time me and Seph blew up a toilet then. Or the time we 'adjusted' the projector in the meeting room. Or the time we flooded the labs."

Angeal blinked, surprised, and gave a shocked bout of laughter. "Really? You really did that?"

"Uh huh," Harry grinned, "and much, much more."

"Take back what you said!" The enraged screech cut off Angeal's reply, "And to think I thought you a hero, you-you poetry abuser!"

"What kind of insult is that!? All of that poetic crap is just that, crap!" Came the shouted reply.

"Shut up!"

"Shouldn't we, like, go and stop them?" Angeal asked, watching the furious redhead charge at the long haired 'poetry abuser' opposite him.

"Nah. Let them fight a bit longer," Harry suggested, a gleeful look on his face, "The repairs will come out of the Science Department's funds, anyways."

Angeal suddenly felt a lot less comfortable standing next to the world-recognized war hero, Harriel.

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1997 - Shinra Mansion, Nibelhiem**

Cloud had put off this day for a long time. He knew he couldn't put it off any longer longer though.

Looking up at the foreboding mansion, Cloud narrowed his eyes as he put his hand on the door.

It was then at a thought suddenly occurred to him, something that he should've thought of a long time ago.

The Planet had been silent.

Cloud frowned slightly, wondering why exactly he had never thought about that until recently. When he was younger, and he could acutely remember this, the Planet had always spoken to him about one thing or another. It had educated his still undeveloped mind with its words and spoken about tales of the past - or was it the future? - and the things he had to do. It spoke even more after he began receiving the nightmares and mako, reminding him of his goal, of all that was at stake. But then it's words tapered off with the nightmares and he didn't really pay that much thought.

Until now.

How odd.

Maybe it was because of the importance he was placing on his current 'mission'. His chance to gain an ally in this world that wasn't his was, to him, important, and perhaps that importance reminded him of the importance the Planet placed on his overall mission.

He didn't know.

Shaking his head of these thoughts, he opened the door and stepped inside.

It was time to pay a visit to an old friend.

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1997 - Gongaga**

He didn't want to stay here anymore. Despite his loving family and everything, he had to go. There was no freedom. He wanted to chase his dreams.

Glancing down at the magazine in his hand, he took one more look at his heroes to cement his decision and smiled goodbye to his village.

Zackary Fair was going to join SOLDIER; he was going to become a hero.


	4. Chapter 4

**[u] - εуλ 1997 - Outside Shinra Tower, Midgar**

Zack's mouth hung open, gaping at the sight before him. That was one big building. When he had first arrived, he had thought all the buildings were huge! But _this_ -! This topped them all. He frowned a little though, unable to help but compare his lavish surroundings with what he had seen down _there_ , in the slums.

He shook his head wildly; today was supposed to be a happy day, after all. He was joining SOILDER! Well, as a cadet, but still! He was on his way to be a hero.

He grinned wildly, heart thumping with nerves and excitement, and adjusted his grip on his bag of belongings. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the doors of Shinra Building. According to the flyer in his other hand, he had made the right choice in coming to Midgar rather than just stopping at Junon. Both places were where recruits could join up at, but you would only get the tour of the SOLDIER base and get to meet some of the elite if you came to Midgar.

So caught up in his own excitement, he didn't notice when someone stepped around the corner and he ran right into them, knocking the both of them to the floor.

"Ow..." Zack hissed, rubbing his head where it had hit the floor in his rather ungraceful fall. He managed to sit up without help and then found a hand held out to him.

"Oh Gaia, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going! Are you okay?" A voice asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks and it wasn't all your faul..." Zack trailed off, having picked himself up with the help of the other and gotten a good look at him. His jaw dropped cause, holy Mother of Minerva, it was Harriel! A-and behind him was Sephiroth and Genesis and Angeal!

Harriel smirked at him a little. "Yeah, I get that a lot," the SOLDIER elite told him and, wow, he was a lot shorter and his voice was quite a bit higher than Zack had imagined.

Zack knew, from those magazines that his mother had, quite a bit about every one of the group of four and knew that Harriel was the shortest at 5'5", but Zack had never actually realized how short that was. He was barely taller than Zack himself and Zack was only thirteen.

"You're short!" He blurted out, slapping his hands over his mouth a moment later.

He received quite a nasty glare for that comment, but, luckily, the attention was taken off of him by stifled laughter coming in the direction of the taller three of the four. The other three quickly turned their heads, covering their mouths or coughing to hide their laughter. A yelp came from Genesis as his foot was stepped on.

"Hey! I wasn't the only one who laughed!"

"Well, you were the loudest!"

"Well, it is the truth! You're a whole five inches shorter than me! And Seph and Angeal are both at least two inches taller than I am! If that isn't short, I don't know what is!"

"You... LOVELESS is a terrible poem just like all other poems!"

"H-hey! How dare you! Leave LOVELESS out of this!"

Angeal and Sephiroth edged passed the arguing pair and while the latter looked on with a frown, the former spoke to Zack quietly. "I'll give you points for honesty, but if you want to keep living, I suggest you never speak of Harry's height again. He's... sensitive to height comments."

Zack just nodded dumbly, snapping his mouth shut. "Uh... I'm sorry?" He tried, feeling anxious at angering one of his idols. And right when he was about to apply for the army.

"Are you applying to join SOLDIER?" Angeal suddenly asked.

"Uh..." Zack blinked as he snapped his mind out of the slightly hysterical state he was in and managed to register the question. And only then did who, exactly, he was talking to hit him. He quickly snapped to attention. "Yes! Um... Sir?" He tried, giving a sheepish smile and sloppy salute.

Angeal chuckled, amused. "At ease. You aren't in the army yet. There's no need to salute me like that." Zack let his hand fall to his side, feeling embarrassed. "Well, we should really be going and be stopping them before they break something," Angeal decided. He turned to Harriel and Genesis who were still insulting each other fervently. "You two... Stop arguing like children, it's unbecoming of you." He was ignored.

"Stop!" Sephiroth barked, loudly and suddenly, making everyone jump.

"Fuck, Sephy! You scared the shit out of me!" Genesis exclaimed with wide eyes, one hand placed dramatically over his heart, "Are you trying to kill me?"

Sephiroth gave him a blank look in return.

Angeal sighed. "Thank you, Sephiroth." He turned back to Zack and gave him a smile. "I feel sorry for involving you in this. I wish you luck in your future endeavors." He nodded towards Zack and began walking towards the door, Genesis following and pouting about how Sephiroth was being mean.

It was then that Zack realized Harriel was staring at him with a frown on his face. He smiled awkwardly, hoping that the shortest of his four idols hadn't taken offense to his comment. The SOLIDER shrugged a little and and nodded goodbye before walking to Sephiroth, who had waited for him.

Zack let out a sigh of relief, hoping that it meant he had been forgiven.

* * *

**[v] - εуλ 0020 - Lucrecia's Cave, Flashback**

_Absolute silence._

_That was the only thing present in the air._

_The world had gone silent in a matter of months and, Vincent knew, he too was just holding on. Cloud was grieving alone in Aeris' church for all those that had been taken by the Wave. Vincent, on the other hand, was here._

_Guilt swarmed him._

_This was too much like running away for him, but where else could he go to find peace?_

_Only here was the damned silence natural, only here did it feel that way. Everywhere else he went, he felt like he was go insane just by listening to that horrible silence that plagued Gaia._

_Monsters were rarely seen anymore, nor were animals or plants or humans._

_And that silence? That silence sounded like Gaia screaming in pain, ringing with the force of the sheer agony she was experiencing._

_A sharp stinging sensation was what brought him out of his thoughts._

_It was Chaos, growing restless. He could feel the demon moving, pushing for control. Vincent shoved back at him, trying to crush his presence with brutal force. He didn't have time for this. Not now. Not with the end approaching._

_However, the demon was insistent, writhing and demanding attention attention that Vincent hadn't once payed to the recently silent inhabitant of his body._

_He scowled and gritted his teeth. Just go away!_

_He felt Chaos still and bit back a sigh of relief._

_But then suddenly, agonizing pain flowed through him and he felt Chaos thrashing and struggling in the back of his mind as he fell to his knees with a choked scream._

_There was a flash of light and..._

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1997 - Shinra Mansion Basement**

Everything was dark.

Why... Why was it dark? He could vaguely remember a bright light a few moments ago...

No- wait. That's not right. Why would there be a bright light? Hadn't he locked himself in the basement?

Frowning up at the dark, solid surface above him, Vincent uncrossed his arms and gave the thing trapping him a great shove. It fell off his container from the side and he sat up, blinking into the darkness.

Dark gloomy basement? Check. Wooden coffin? Check.

Vincent sighed. It must have been a dream then, but what dream was that realistic? He couldn't have possibly lucid dreamed it because he didn't know how to. And even if he could lucid dream without knowing how, he didn't have control of his body within throes dreams, nor did he know it was a dream until he woke up.

He frowned as he thought back through the fragments of his dream. It was weird how they linked together to tell a story, a history. It almost seemed like a memory...

He shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts.

He should just go back to sleep...

As Vincent reached down for the lid of the coffin, his eyes caught sight of something in the gloom. It looked like a photo. He reached for it and picked it up, feeling curious and his eyes grew wide as he took it in.

_[u] - εуλ 1889 - Nibelhiem_

_Heheh! Not even Hojo can stop me from sneaking us out! A picture celebrate his moment! - Harriel & Sephiroth aged nine_

No. He couldn't go back to sleep. Not now.

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1997 - Shinra SOLIDER Cadet Barracks**

"Whoop!" Zack let out a cheer as he feel back onto his hard bunk. He made a face at how hard it was but shrugged it off. He might be missing his comfy bed at home, but that feeling was completely blotted out by the feeling of triumph at becoming a cadet. It was only the first step of many, but it was a step taken nonetheless.

He gave a giggle of delight and rolled over, breathing in the scent of his new room. It smelled clean, if a bit dusty.

"Hey, are you alright...?"

Zack blinked and rolled back over to find another boy watching him with concern, standing with his arms folded. Zack sat up and grinned. "Yup, I'm just super happy about everything so far," he chirped.

The other boy grinned back, moving to lean against the wall next to Zack's bunk. "Good to know," he said with a nod, "So what's your name."

"Zack, Zack Fair."

"Well, the name's Kunsel. Nice to meet you Zack."

They both grinned at each other.

"I have a feeling that this is going to become the beginning of a wonderful friendship."

"I agree."

"Hey, are you two just going to ignore me?" A voice suddenly sounded and a blurr of red dropped down from above Zack, startling him. An upside down grinning face appeared in front of him. "Yo, the name's Reno." Reno then proceeded to flip off the top bunk and onto the floor. He stuck out a hand for Zack to shake and then crossed his other arm over his first to offer a hand to Kunsel as well. "So, Zack and Kunsel, was it?"

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1997 - Shinra Mansion**

Vincent narrowed his eyes as he watched the boy walk away from the village.

In the past few days, he had been getting himself reacquainted with society, coming into the village and figuring out where he was and when he was. He listened around for recent news and anything that could help him. He had also sold a couple of things he found around the mansion for money to buy food, but that was the limit of the interaction he had with the villagers.

It was so very, very different from how it had been in the dream. He vaguely remembered getting cornered by people asking for autographs and other such things, hero worship in their eyes. Well, that was until fear and terror began to spread, then they looked at him with hope and desperation.

When he had first come here, he had been half expecting to have people crowd around him, but they didn't. He was just an odd stranger to them. Nothing more, nothing less.

And for some reason, it felt refreshing, if a bit lonely.

But, for now, he had to find out more about this boy who looked oh so familiar and what, exactly, he thought he was doing by intruding upon the Shinra Mansion grounds.

The boy took a deep breath, having stopped in front of the door, and the slowly pushed it open before walking inside. Silent as a shadow, Vincent followed.

Cloud, Vincent believed he was called, was in his dreams. This Cloud was so much younger, but it was undeniably him. There was something in his eyes that Vincent recognized. But if Cloud was like this right now, could Vincent had dreamed of the future...? No. Impossible. That wasn't possible. Dreaming of the future? He had never heard of anything like that.

And anyways, it wouldn't make sense if it was. Things from reality and the dream didn't match up.

The child, Cloud, who couldn't have been much older than ten, eleven years old did remarkably well against the various monsters that had made the Shinra mansion their home and Vincent could've sworn he saw the telltale glow of mako in the boy's eyes at times.

Finally, the boy made his way to the basement, but not without a few cuts and bruises. Vincent could tell that Cloud had trouble with a few monsters, getting caught of guard by their power. He wasn't very surprised when Cloud made his way to Vincent's coffin without further direction and pushed off the lid. The kid gasped at the sight of the empty coffin, as if expecting to find Vincent there and it made Vincent narrow his eyes in suspicion.

"Why are you looking for me?"

The much smaller body stiffened as Cloud felt Vincent's claws close over his neck, having not noticed the other watching as he made his way through the mansion.

Vincent felt the younger boy make his body relax and then glowing blue eyes looked at him.

"I need your help."

And for some reason, Vincent felt obliged to help, even though he didn't know what, exactly, the boy needed help with.

* * *

**[u] - εуλ 1998 - Shinra SOLDIER Training Rooms**

Zack couldn't believe that Kunsel knew so much about Shinra. He was learning something new everyday! And today...?

Today Kunsel had managed to get them into the SOLDIER training rooms! Which was just awesome!

He grinned as his sword clashed against Reno's, finding a mirroring grin on Reno's face.

These swords... Shit, these swords were awesome! There was a whole stash of different kinds of weaponry in the room, all there to be used freely! And they were sooooo much better than the ones they usually used in training.

He spun, parrying Kunsel's slash and pressing down against the blade with his own. They disengaged at the same time, jumping apart to avoid a swing from Reno.

"You know, it's really unfair that this is a three way battle," Zack commented with a pout, "After all, you're a Turk already, Reno, and me and Kunsel have only been here as cadets for a year."

Reno swung his sword around lazily. "Heh, don't worry, I've toned down my skills for you newbies. If I were goin' all out, you wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell," he informed the two, pointing his sword at Zack.

"How very arrogant of you," Kunsel said, an amused smile playing over his lips. He lowered his sword. "I'm out, I wanna have a look at the other weapons."

A beep sounded and Reno also lowered his weapon, Zack copying his move, and reached into his pocket to answer his PHS. Zack sighed a little before something caught his eye on the weapons rack.

It was a sword, but it wasn't an ordinary sword. The sword was very wide and very long and it looked really, really heavy. But it was unique and Zack loved it on first sight.

"Hey, Zack, Kunsel, I've gotta go. Catch you later, yeah?"

Zack mumbled something in reply as he eager went over to the sword, but he didn't miss the grumbling from Reno about "being ignored for some scraps of metal" as he left.

"Whao..." He muttered in awe as he picked up the sword. It reminded him a lot of Angeal's buster sword, but he never expected to find something like that here. He grinned as he picked it up. It was heavy, but manageable. He gave it a couple of test swings and grinned even wider. This was awesome.

"Hey, Kunsel, spar with me," he called over to his friend who had picked out a katana.

Kunsel turned as he began to agree but stopped abruptly as he saw the weapon Zack was wielding. "No way, man. I'm not sparring with you while you're using that! My arms are sore enough from before," he exclaimed, shaking his head and waving his arms in dissent.

"Oh, come on, man. Please!" Zack implored, giving his best puppy-eyed expression.

Kunsel grimaced. "I hate it when you do that..." He sighed in defeat, "Alright. Just don't swing that thing too hard." He turned back to the weapons rack and picked out a sturdier-looking sword before joining a grinning, bouncing Zack in the middle of the room.

"Alright! You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Kunsel muttered before charging at Zack and bringing his sword down in an overhead swing.

Zack blocked with practiced ease, using one hand to steady the blade of the heavy sword. "Gaia, is this thing heavy!" He exclaimed in surprise as he nearly slipped. He quickly disengaged and twisted to swing the sword in a horizontal slash. It actually wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.

Kunsel blocked, but stumbled from the force of it, letting out a curse as he steadied himself and swung again and again.

Zack swung back, swords clashing together. At first, Kunsel kept being pushed back by the force in each swing, but he slowly got used to it as Zack tired.

They kept at it, each refusing to give in to the other until eventually their swords locked again.

"Wanna give up and just admit I win this one?" Zack asked between pants.

"No way. But are you sure you aren't tired from swinging that monstrosity all that time?" Kunsel asked, ignoring the ache in his arms. He much preferred information gathering to fighting. The former was much less tiring.

"Nope, not at all," Zack lied. He was dead tired. It was harder than he initially believed to keep swinging such a large sword. "What about you? Tired of blocking with that tiny sword of yours?"

"Ha, not at all..."

They kept going for a while, each trying to force the other back.

"Y-you know what?"

"Wh-what?"

"I'm kinda t-tired."

"Yeah, same."

"Draw?"

"Draw."

The pair disengaged their swords simultaneously, letting out identical sighs of relief. Zack sighed and rubbed his aching arms, falling back on his ass as he let go of the sword. Kunsel sat down next to him in a similar position.

"That was fun."

"Yeah, we should totally do that again some time."

It was slowly clapping that brought them out if their conversation and they both froze as a familiar voice spoke. "That was quite impressive."


End file.
